Rishi Sunak warned his warring MPs the Conservatives must “unite or die” after he completed a spectacular political comeback to win the race to be the next prime minister.
The former chancellor ruled out opposition demands for a general election after he won the Tory leadership race on Monday when rival Penny Mordaunt failed to win the backing of MPs.
Liz Truss, who will make way for Mr Sunak less than two months after she beat him in the last contest, congratulated her soon-to-be-successor and told him “you have my full support”.
Sunak sought to hit the ground running by addressing Conservative MPs behind closed doors in the House of Commons half an hour after his victory was announced.
He then headed to Conservative HQ before delivering this speech, which was curiously Truss-like in its delivery:
Related: Sunak to be declared PM ‘within hours’ as Johnson exits and Mordaunt flounders
